Prior art power controllers for processors are usually buck converters, as shown in FIG. 1. They suffer from poor response. Multi-phase buck converters, as shown in FIG. 2, are a significant improvement, but they are still slow.
A switched-current power converter, as taught by U.S. Pat. No. 6,121,761, “Fast Transition Power Supply”, issued 19 Sep., 2000, and shown (simplified) in FIG. 3 is much faster. A variant (U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/709,484, “Switched-current Power Converter” filed 8 May, 2004 issued 27 Dec., 2005 as U.S. Pat. No. 6,979,982) having a plurality of switched-current sources is shown in FIG. 4. The plurality of current sources can be generated using one current source and a matrix transformer. The current can transition from zero to full load and back to zero very quickly, essentially the time that it takes to close, then open, solid-state switches. The above patent and patent application are owned by the same entity as the present invention, and they are incorporated herein by reference.
In the power converter of FIG. 4, the switches are located outside of the processor, though preferably they are very close to it.